WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary baseball team will end its five-game homestand with a pair of mid-week contests against Hampton Roads rivals Old Dominion and Norfolk State. The Tribe will host the Monarchs on Tuesday, March 26 at 6 pm before welcoming the Spartans on Wednesday, March 27 at 6 pm.
W&M News and Notes
• Former conference rivals ODU and W&M will meet for the second time this year and 139
th time in series history. The Monarchs improved its all-time series lead to 85-53 after outlasting the Tribe, 6-3, on March 12. Regardless, the Tribe is still 2-1 in the last three meetings.
• The second matchup between W&M and NSU will mark the 43
rd meeting in series history. The Tribe rolled past the Spartans, 17-2, during the previous time out on March 5. The dominating win advanced W&M's all-times series lead to 31-11. The Tribe also holds a 21-5 ledger against the Spartans in Williamsburg.
• The W&M offense has been red-hot after averaging eight runs scored in its last four games. The effort allows the Tribe rank top five in the CAA in batting average (.262), runs scored (141), and RBI (125). In regard to extra base hits, W&M leads the conference in both doubles (48) and triples (11). The Tribe most recently scored its second most runs (15) during a CAA win over Northeastern.
• Senior
Hunter Smith owns the hardest swing in the lineup. The Caldwell, N.J., native leads the CAA in home runs (7) and slugging percentage (.753). He is also top five in the league in batting average (.346), on-base percentage (.443), run scored (21), RBI (24) and doubles (10). Smith homered twice in a game for the third time this year against Northeastern (3/24). He now ranks 12
th in school history with 23 career home runs. Smith is also the fifth player in W&M history to generate a multiple home run game on at least three occasions.
• Senior
Zach Pearson is on a streak of three-consecutive games with multiple hits. The third baseman ranks second on the team in both multi-hit (seven) and multi-RBI (five) games. Over the last four starts, Pearson batted .471 (8-for-17) with two doubles, a triple and seven RBI.
• With a team ERA of 3.73, the Tribe boast the second-best pitching staff in the CAA. The bullpen has been vital to the dominant pitching. The relief throwers combine for a 3.04 ERA, 8-3 record and six saves. Sophomore
Randy Prosperi leads the team with 11 appearances, while junior
Chris Farrell totals three saves as the closer.
• Junior
Nick Butts generated one of his best appearances on Sunday, March 24. The Chesterfield, Va., native tossed four relief innings of two-hit ball to gain his first win of the season against Northeastern. Butts also struck out a season-high four batters.
• So far, the Tribe holds a 3-1 record against in-state rivals. The victories over commonwealth opponents have been convincing with each one decided by four runs or more. After this week, the Tribe will meet an in-state rival five more times. The remaining matchups consists of James Madison (4/12-13), at George Mason (4/23), and at Richmond (4/24).
• The Tribe claimed its second Power Five win of the season after splitting a doubleheader with West Virginia on March 16. The Green and Gold scored five late runs to rally for a 6-4 win. It was the first time the Tribe defeated the Mountaineers since 1968. W&M defeated its first Power Five opponent at Virginia (2/26), 9-3.
• W&M has had three players collect CAA Weekly Awards in the first four weeks of the season. Two freshmen pitchers in
Tristan Snyder and
Zach Tsakounis garnered CAA Rookie of the Week honors. The other award went to sophomore
Matt McDermott as the CAA Player of the Week for the week of March 8.
• Plumeri Park, the home of the Tribe Baseball, turns 20 this spring. The anniversary will be celebrated and recognized over the course of the season. The facility was constructed in large part due to the generous donation by Mr. Joseph J. Plumeri II in the autumn of 1996. It is now considered one of the finest baseball facilities in the region, consistently receiving upgrades over the course of time. W&M has enjoyed a lot of success at Plumeri Park with a 387-201 (.658) since its completion.
